New Drugs and Markets Session 4: Exploring New Horizons

In recent decades, countless new synthetic drugs have entered the underground drug supply, and overdose deaths and other drug-related harms have skyrocketed as a result. Media, policymakers, and the general public are concerned — but often misguided — in their attempts to address the issue because they lack accurate information about drugs and drug supply changes.

This four-part series will explore the most commonly used new and emerging synthetic drugs in the United States, the geographic trends in where and when these drugs have spread, and the demographic trends in who is impacted by these drugs. Panelists will examine the risks and harms faced by people who use drugs and discuss the role of harm reduction and medical providers in reducing overdose and health risks. We know that current drug policies fuel and will continue to incentivize new, and likely, more dangerous drugs. As drug policy reformers, people who use drugs, and people who care about people who use drugs, we will envision solutions that are just as innovative and nimble as these new markets.

Building on what we have learned during the earlier sessions, this panel will focus on solutions. We know that the U.S.’s prohibitionist policies will continue to incentivize new, and likely, more dangerous drugs. As drug policy reformers, people who use drugs, and people who care about people who use drugs, we need to be just as innovative and nimble as these new markets.

What are the most promising harm reduction interventions that can provide timely information and strategies to stay safe for the people who most need it? How can we scale up community drug checking given current technological, financial, political, and logistical barriers to these technologies? How might we use drug checking to shift the drug supply from the ground up? What do models of safe supply have to offer? How can we think outside of the box and usher in a new era of drug policy reform that addresses these new drugs and new markets? We will envision how to harness our knowledge and resources to reduce the harms of the unpredictable drug supply and protect ourselves, the people we love, and the people most harmed by drug prohibition.

• Phoenix "Mohawk" Kellye, Rebel Harm Reduction
• Karen McDonald, Toronto's Drug Checking Service
• Yarelix Estrada, Remedy Alliance/For The People
• Clare Schmidt, Remedy Alliance/For The People

• Aliza Cohen, Drug Policy Alliance

• Community Use and Testing Study (CUTS) Rhode Island
• Opioid Data Lab
• Remedy Alliance/For The People
• StreetCheck

• Arizona State University School of Social Work
• Big Cities Health Coalition
• Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR)
• Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH)
• Center for Opioid Epidemiology & Policy (COEP) at NYU Langone
• Law Enforcement Action Partnership
• Missouri Institute of Mental Health
• National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD)
• National Harm Reduction Coalition (NHRC)
• National Survivors Union (NSU)
• The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Missouri, St. Louis
• University of Missouri, St. Louis Addiction Science Team
• University of Southern California Institute for Addiction Science
• VOCAL-US

ASL interpretation and live captioning will be provided. This panel is virtual and open to the public. This event will be recorded and registrants will receive the link after the event. If you have other access needs or questions, please contact Aliza Cohen at [email protected].

Host or Publisher Drug Policy Alliance